Rail bond



Nov. 14, 1939. E. M. DEEMS I 2,180,313

RAIL BOND Filed March 28, 1935 72 /6 I M (MIINSNTOR 13 HIM M5 BY" W Z x [2 I a ATT l lzz Patented Nov. 14, 1939 UNITED STATE 35 a Edward'M.Dee ms, Forest'Hills,Y. assignoi .to

. Railroad Accessories Corporation,,.l\lew York, a

Y., a corporation of New'York j" Application March 28, 1935, Serial No. 13,389 j '1 Claim. (Cl. 1735-230) This invention relates to conductors, more especiallyto conductors for connecting the adjacent ends of railway rails, particularly those for use in connection with railway track circuits.

It is well understood by those skilled in the railway, signalling art, that a track-circuit includes an insulated section of' the trackway formed'by placing insulating joints in each of theflines of rails, and by connecting a battery across the rails at one 'end,-and a relay across the rails at-theother end.

It is-also wellunderstood that theordinaryrail connecting or fish plates connecting the adjacent ends of the ordinarythirty-six foot, sec- -tion's are not to be relied upon to furnish su fficient conductivity for the electrical energy which flows in 'thera'ils from the battery at one.

end of the section'to' the relay at the'other. end

thereof.

bonding of each of the adjacent butting rail ends within the section.

Great difiiculties have been encountered successfullybonding the adjacent abuttingrrail ends in track circuit sections because provision has to be made for many adverse conditions. A common method is to bond, from one railweb to the adjacentrailf'web by means of one or a plurality of conductors of a length somewhat' greaterthanthe length of the 'fish plates. This stock, or may actually get onto the top offth'e:

rail, and so be severed by thepassage thereover' 35* of the wheels of rolling stock. In addition, they are very likely to be damaged by track men while working along the track,-particularly when working'in andabout the "rail joint, and more especially when tightening the bolts thereof, or re placingthe fish plates with new'plates;

A'very pronounced dificulty with the old type of bond is, that due to its length and inspite of its sizeas'it may be commercially used, it does not offer a conductivity as great as is desired.

' The, desired conductivity cannot be attained without. enlarging the bond to a prohibitiv extent.

Attempts have been made to increase the conductivity and decrease the mechanical disad- 50' lvantages .of bonds by applying a bond directly" to the. rail heads." Sucha bond can be very short, as compared with the previously described bond. Therefore, for a given diameter it has an increased conductivity. Such bonds have, in gen-'- 55' sjeral, been applied tothe' head of the rail by elec-' contact This fact has necessitated a special" trical or flame welding. Many co mpetent engi neers' are-adverseto applying any considerable degree of'-heat to the side of the-ball of a rail,

especially adjacent the end thereof, and this reluctance, considered by many to be well founded, has inilitated'against the use'of such bonds.

A further 'difiiculty which has been-met with have-parts which extend below the top surface of the head'of the railon the outside thereof. These parts, dueto the'swayi'ng of the vehicle; come in with the head of rail bonds and destroy them. 3 M v I' v Attempts have been madeto attach bonds to rail heads by drilling a cavity in the rail head and attaching the-bond to a plug driven into thecavity. A' diific ulty with" this type'of bond arises fromthe fact that it isnecessary to drill a relatively deep hole in. the head-of the rail. This hole penetrated what might-be called the active cross-sectional area of the head and to that extent weakened the rail head.

Inniy copending application Serial No. 538,943,

now Patent-No. 2,045,126, filed May 21,1931,' I have "illustrated, described and claimed a type of bondfor attachment'to rail heads. This type of-bond obviates many of the defects of'the type of bond heretofore used and has many desirablevirtues esp'ecially'in'that the cavity which must be formed in the head of the rail for the a reception thereof is s'oshallowithat it does not penetrate the active load-sustaining cross-section Qtthe 'rail.- By reason of thisfact incipient cracks which may develop in the rail head are not-afforded an easy opportunity to spread by reason of the cavity formed for the reception of the head 'of the rail bond, as that cavity does not closely approachthe point of origin of the cracks.

I have discovered, in practice, that the type of bond illustrated and described in my copending' application,"hereinbefore referred to, has a weakness in' that it is subject to injury at the junction line of the surface in which the cavity is produced and the bond. I v

A-principalobject 'of' this invention is to pro vide abond of the type illustrated,'described, and claimed in my copendin'gapplication hereinbefore mentioned, of such construction that any tend-' ency' towards mutilation of the bond at the line of contact between the bond and the edge of the cavity in the rail head will be obviated.

In my Letters- Patent No. 1,945,480; I have connecting an end of a rail bond to a rail which consists in attaching an electrical conductorv the line of juncture of the contacting body and the edge of the cavity is avoided.

In that patent the particular illustrative embodiment of the method disclosed comprised a conducting member having a body part or parts which filled the entire cavity and approximated in diameter that of the adjacent edge of the cavity.

An object of the present invention is toprovide an improvement in a rail bond made according to the said method andwhich' relates .to a

type of bond in which a stranded conductor is employed of considerably less diameter than that of the cavity in the body to which the conduc-- tor is to beattached.

Other objects and advantages willappear as the description of the particular physical embodiments selected to illustrate the invention progresses and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In describing the invention in detail andthe particular physical embodiments selected to illustrate the invention, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing and the several viewsthereon, in which similar parts will be designated by similar characters throughout the several views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary; vertical sectional. view of a portion of rail head with a portion of a bond embodying my invention inplace therein; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view illustrating a side elevation of thearrangement as shown by Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a part section, part elevation taken on the line III-III of Fig.1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 butillustrating the initial position of the plug portion of my bond as it is being driven into a cavity in a rail head Fig. 5 is a side elevational view showing the parts in the position illustrated by Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing a modified form of bond; Fig. '7 is a View similar to Fig. 3 but show-' ing the form of bond illustrated in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a side elevational view similar to Fig. 2,

of the plug as illustrated by Fig. 7 but-taken the line; Fig. 13 is a detail view in end elevation;

of the plug shown in Figs. 9 and. 10, in its original condition; Fig. 14 is a viewthereof in side elevation. In Fig. 1 is afragment of arail head I isshown.

Thisrail head, as shown in Fig. 1, has a cavity 2 formed therein, by using theusual form of drill of a predetermined gauge. The -cavity is so shallow preferably as to lie entirely without, or substantially entirely without, what might, be

illustrated, described and claimed a method of .called the active cross-section of the rail, that is,

that portion of the cross-section of the rail least active in sustaining the stresses of the passing train. To this end applicant not only forms the cavity 2 very shallow, but also forms the cavity well down upon the side of the head of the rail, as most clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The conductor portion of the bond is made of any suitable electrical conducting material. Applicant prefers to make the bond of a copper strand or cable as 2, of conventional or suitable structure and dimensions, within the range of sizes which the cavity is adapted to receive.

In order to attach the end or terminal portion of the conductor to the body of metal composing the rail head I, and in which is formed the cavity 2, as already described, applicant employs a plug, as 4, which may be assembled loosely with the conductor terminal end portion and introduced intothe cavity 2 as indicated in Fig. l. It will be observed from the latter figure'that the assembled portions of the plug 4 and conductor 3- have an aggregate bulk less than that of Accordingly there,

the capacity of the cavity 2. will never be under any conditions a protrusion of the plug material beyond the edge of the cavity, and so there canbe nodanger of the cable being injured or sheared off across that edge;-

It therefore will retain-its integrity at all times. The plug l is of any suitable conductive metal, somewhat plastic, so that it can be deformed by pressure applied with a suitable tool, and when so deformed, as into the position shown in Fig. 1,

andmore clearly in Fig. .3, the material of the; plug is flowed laterally into firm mechanical and electrical contact with the inner walls of thecavity 2. as at 5, and similarly into the conical concavityfi at the inner end of the cavity 2.

At'the same timethe plugmetal is flowed into the interstices between the strand components as at I, and the strand is compressed between the wall. 5 of the cavity and the opposed margin I of the plug.

To facilitate the assembly of the conductor and: plug and their simultaneous introduction into the cavity, the plug'may have a marginal chan: nel,..;groove or recess, as 8 (see Fig. 5), and the plugnmay also have its leading end bevelled, as

at llthisfurthering the deformation of the plug at its nose against the contiguous bottom wall of the'cavity, and also facilitating the flowing of the plug material into and around the end of the strand 3 and thus promoting the highly efficient electrical. connection which is the prime requisite of every efficient rail bond. 1 I

In its completed condition the plug is shortened somewhat in length so that it occupies a final position remote from the edge [0 of the cavity, and there can be no shearing action at that region, either of the plug, or of the conductor 3,

as the latter is maintained in a freely flexible condition and can be flexed without undue tendency to break down. Being flexible, it is better capablev of accommodating itselfto casual blows, pulls,

and other strains, and as it is firmly anchored by the plug, it is only displaced with desirable difficulty. The plug itself and the union between The-intended and highly desirable advantages I above recited and secured by provision of the plug andconductor union illustrated in Figs; 1 to 5.

inclusive and described with reference to the form therein shown, may be likewise secured by modified forms of plugs.

One such modification is illustrated in Figs. 6,

7, and 8, which show a plug IQ of the same general shape as that described with reference to Figs. 1 to 5, but in this form of plug a co-axially disposed orifice l3 takes the place of the margi: nal groove or recess 8 of the form shown in Fig. 5, etc. tion, among which may be noted the ease with which it may be secured to the strand 5% before the introduction of the assembly to a cavity. The bonds may have their appropriate plugs secured to the ends at a remote place of manufacture, and, so equipped, be shipped ready for use, a thoroughly desirable capability, aswill be recognized by those skilled in the art.

In so stating this advantage, asparticularly characteristic of the form of plug shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8, it is not intended to exclude the possibility of so deforming the structure of plug t as to secure a like advantage, and in general this attachment of any like plug to its conductor may be effected in any analogou manner.

In Figs. 9 to 14 inclusive is illustrated another modification of plug adapted to carry into effect the novel method of annexing one end of a bond to a body of metal, such as the ball of a rail.

In this modification the plug has a body leof lozenge shape, and a conical leading end H. The sides of the body are formed with grooves or recesses 13 at diametrically opposite margins, and the nose is grooved with a channel i9 connecting the grooves l8, the grooving therefore,

taking the form of a U-shaped channel adapted to receive the bight or loop 2! at the terminal end of a strand conductor, as at 20, in Figs. 9-12.

This form has some advantages in opera- It can easily be seen that all of the advantages already detailed are presented par. excellence, in this form of embodiment of the invention. The contacts for electrical union are tripled .in area, approximately, the possibility of displacetrative, but does not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the idea of means underlying my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent oi the United States, is:

The method of afiixing one end ofa stranded rail bond conductor to the ball of a rail having a a shallow cavity formed therein, which consists in the step of assembling a terminal portion of said stranded conductor with a plug of substantially plastic metal, said assembly having an aggregate bulk less than the stereometri'o capacity of said cavity, the step of introducing said assenn' bly to the cavity, and the step of exerting pressure against said plug in such a manner as to flow the metal of said plug into the interstices of said stranded conductor and directly against the end and side inner walls of said cavity.

EDWARD M. DEEMS. 

